Last week, a plan to resubdivide the lot at 321 Nutley St. S.W., was deferred by the Vienna Town Council. "The motion became very complex," said Councilmember George Lovelace.
The council decided to wait a week so that staff would have time to work out the conditions the council wanted to place on the plan. At the Oct. 25 meeting, the council revisited the issue.
The applicants Al Kazemi and Thomas Nabi are joint owners of the property and they want to split it in order to tear down the current house and build two on the lot.
Neighbors had complained about the number of trees that would need to be removed in order to make the plan possible. The council required that new trees be planted as a condition of approval.
One neighbor pointed out that the new trees will take years to replace the old. "Every time builders come in and take away two-and-a-half story trees, it changes the town," said Rob DiRocco, an adjoining property owner. "How long does it take for trees to get that big?"
The other major point of contention was that the property owners were required to construct a storm drain since the town requires that stormwater runoff not increase with new development.
The town included a provision that if the town's maintenance crews should ever have to make repairs to the new drain, the cost would be assessed to the owner of the property.
The council voted unanimously to approve the resubdivision, with Councilmember Laurie Cole abstaining as a result of having missed the discussion last week.
The council also approved spending $50,000 to replace aging computers. The money had already been budgeted.
The council deferred action on an ordinance which would exempt owners of dogs being trained to work as guide dogs or hearing dogs from paying a license fee. The dogs would still need to be licensed, but would not have to pay the $5 or $10 registration fee.